SU Spring Elections 2026 Interviews: Khadija Malik, VP Welfare & Campaigns

In the run-up to the Warwick Students’ Union (SU) Spring Elections, The Boar offered all Full-Time Officer (FTO) candidates the opportunity to be interviewed.

Khadija Malik spoke to The Boar‘s incoming Editor-in-Chief, Rachel Gore, about her campaign for VP Welfare & Campaigns, emphasising what she would bring to the SU.

Why did you decide to run for this position?

“As someone who’s accessed a lot of wellbeing [services] at University, a lot of Report + Support, and have had a lot of struggles throughout these three years, I really firsthand experienced not only the best aspects of wellbeing, but also places where it could definitely improve,” Malik began.

These experiences made her realise where “improvements” could be made. Malik hopes to make these changes so that “every student, whether it’s a home student, international or non-traditional student have the best support available for them at all times”.

How will you seek to continue to improve mental health and wellbeing provisions on campus?

“One thing even I personally noticed was when I do tend to go to wellbeing […] or have been assigned therapy, or like psychiatric support, there would be a very long gap between appointments, like two to three weeks,” Malik explained.

Malik wants to provide “interim support to students” when they are given a gap between support. She will introduce “peer support groups” and the centralisation of information.

She will also create “self-help guided books” which will “compile” information and techniques to make “the entire process more accessible and easier for everyone”.

Report + Support disclosures rose for the fourth year running in 2024/25. Are you concerned about these figures, and what more can the SU do to support students?

Saying that she is “quite concerned”, Malik went on to say that the SU should “identify where these incidents are happening”.

“If they’re happening in POP! and there’s all these issues, maybe there should be a welfare officer or like a team of young people there,” she said. Having more “security” and making sure that “there’s always someone to talk to” will help the situation.

Malik does not think you can “stop these incidents from happening” but rather that “you can make [them] less likely to happen” and “definitely improve support” when students face problems.

The cost-of-living crisis is still affecting students on campus. Even though the new Co-op replaced Rootes, prices didn’t drastically fall for students. Across the SU-run outlets and the SU’s relationship with the University, what more would you do to support students with the cost-of-living crisis?

Malik acknowledged that everyone is facing the cost-of-living crisis “whether you’re a local or international student”.

She will advocate for “increased availability of more affordable on-campus accommodation, strengthen housing advice services for students living in Leamington, first-year students entering the private rental market for the first time and especially study abroad and incoming exchange students”.

Malik will also increase “visibility” for the University’s hardship funds, simplify the application process and improve communication.

“I think a lot of the time there is various support available by the university, it’s just students don’t know about it,” she said.

What campaigns are you seeking to run over the next year? 

Malik wants to expand the Period Poverty campaign and make it more “accessible” through “trying to increase funding”.

“It’s something that people love; it’s worked really well. So, I was really thinking, let’s take it the next step forward,” she added.

This interview, along with all other interviews for Full-Time Officer positions, can be watched in full using the link here.

You can also view a list of all candidates and their manifestos here.